'It was all meant to be': Shelby's Gundrum back better than ever after ACL injury

SHELBY — It was like she never left.

Shelby senior Mallary Gundrum stepped into the batter's box during a preseason scrimmage against the Crestview Cougars on March 12 and for the first time in more than a year, she felt at home again. She felt at ease with how she ended up there, in the cold air of late winter as the Whippets were gearing up for a successful season on the softball diamond.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL: Competitive chops: Ontario's Burke embracing challenge of sky-high expectations in first season

She looked at strike one, tracking the pitch all the way into the catcher's mitt. It was the first live pitch she had seen in a very, very long time. Next pitch, Strike 2, again tracking it the entire way. After taking Ball 1, her keen eye for good pitches hadn't faded over her long layoff, Gundrum squared up the next pitch sending it right back up the middle for a base hit. The smile she wore running to first base was as big as it has ever been.

She was back to her normal self.

Just for good measure, her second at-bat in the fifth, she draw a walk and stole second. Her third AB, she ripped a scorching double and later scored.

It was just a meaningless scrimmage, but it meant everything in the world to Gundrum. It was her first softball action since her sensational sophomore season when she earned second team All-Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference when she hit .409 with 38 hits, 11 doubles, two triples and five home runs with 21 RBIs and 27 runs scored.

During a preseason basketball practice before her junior year in 2022-23, Gundrum twisted awkwardly and felt a snap in her knee. It was her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ripping away from her femur and tibia. Her junior basketball season was over before it started, but more devastatingly, her junior softball season, which was due to be her best one yet, was out of the question.

She had surgery to repair her ACL which required more than eight months of recovery, therapy and patience.

"I was fine after a couple of months, but I just couldn't do anything and that was the toughest part of it all," Gundrum said. "I was pretty good with following my recovery plan. I think I didn't swing a bat for about six or seven months. I was cleared to work out with my brace at six months, but I still took it slow and didn't pick up a bat right away. It was the longest seven months of my life."

Seven months without swinging a softball bat and yet, the first swing she took in her first at-bat back went for a single.

Gundrum leaned on family, friends during recovery

She found herself alone at first, angry that the injury happened to her at such a crucial time in her life. It was her junior year, the year where she was going to go out and make a giant splash in basketball and softball. It was the year she was going to put herself on many radars to earn All-Ohio honors and build off of two sensation softball seasons.

But there she was with a massive brace encompassing her leg shortly after having her surgery unsure of what the future might hold.

That is when fellow senior and bestfriend Maggid Bogner stepped in. As a freshman, Bogner suffered an ACL tear and knew the kind of mindset her friend was in and how long of a road she had ahead.

"Maggie being one of my closest friends and having gone through an ACL injury her freshman year, she was a huge help," Gundrum said. "When I would have a rough day, I would lean on Maggie and she would guide me through it."

She said the two bonded over their similar injuries. Bogner wouldn't let Gundrum feel sorry for herself and Gundrum would listen to every piece of advice Bogner had to give.

"I flat out told her how it was," Bogner said. "I didn't sugar coat anything. I told her all of the rough parts of recovery and then explained the positive outcomes. I wanted to make sure I helped her mentally and made sure she knew it wasn't going to be easy. But I would be a friend for her the entire time.

"I didn't have anyone to help me through my injury because I didn't know anyone who suffered through the same thing, but I just wanted to be a good friend for her."

And she absolutely was.

Suffering the injury not only brought Gundrum closer to her best friend, it reconnected her to her family. Usually, the Gundrum family summer was spent at softball fields all over the country playing in high-level tournaments. But as she was on the tail end of her recover and still unable to play softball, Gundrum found herself with an entire summer free from sports.

"Sports were my entire life," Gundrum said. "It was a completely different pace for me. But it was kind of a blessing in disguise. My family and I went out west for two weeks on a family vacation which we never had time to do before because I was always playing sports in some capacity. That was nice to be able to spend that time with them."

It helped Gundrum reassess life a little bit. She stopped sweating the small stuff, knocked out her recovery and came back better than ever. She helped the Shelby girls basketball team win its sixth straight Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championship and stepped back onto the softball field ready to get back into the swing of things.

Back in the Gundrum Groove

From her first practice, Gundrum was laser focused.

"I was so nervous," Gundrum said. "I played with no brace so I was super hesitant, but in that first practice, it felt like I was never hurt. Our trainer was with me on the field during my recovery and she would throw me ground balls so it was nice to still do those things while I was recovering."

And her recovery got her back in the groove quickly.

"I didn't play sports for an entire year so it was just brewing during my entire time off," Gundrum said. "Softball comes natural to me and it always has, but I finally got over that mental hurdle. I had to tell myself that it is OK to play hard again. With this being my senior year, I wanted to go out and have fun and not worry about anything else. Starting off this hot feels super nice."

Hot is putting it mildly. Gumdrum is absolutely scorching. Through her team's first 14 games, the Whippets went 10-4 and Gundrum has been the best hitter in the lineup. She hit .600 with 30 hits, seven doubles, three triples, four home runs, 28 RBIs and 21 runs scored. As a freshman, Gundrum hit .427 with 35 hits, six home runs, 28 RBIs and 29 runs scored for her best individual season and in just 14 games, she has nearly passed every single offensive category.

After an entire year away.

"It is crazy, but it is not crazy at the same time," Shelby coach Samantha Martin said. "Anyone who knows Mal isn't surprised that she was able to overcome this injury and pick up right where she left off. She has always been pure. When I took the job at Shelby, it was her incoming freshman year and all I heard about was how this girl is going to come up and change the face of Shelby softball and I was skeptical until I saw her that first day of practice."

From that day on, Gumdrum has been a force. But to see her come back from an injury that kept her away from the game since the summer after her sophomore year better than ever is insane for Bogner to even comprehend.

"It's like, 'here we go,'" Bogner said. "She seems to hit home runs every time she steps up to bat just like she used to. It is so awesome. We all know the type of player Mallary is but seeing her go up there and act like she hasn't missed a beat is crazy. It is an awesome feeling seeing her do that."

No one was feeling better than Gundrum though. Especially during the third game of the year on March 27 against Marion Harding. In the top of the first inning with a runner on, Gundrum stepped to the plate and squared up a ball that felt very similar to nine previous times during her high school career as she launched a home run over the centerfield fence during a 21-3 victory.

"I thought it would take a couple of scrimmages and a few games for her to get her groove back, but I am not shocked that she never missed a beat," Martin said. "When you have that natural gift and work ethic mixed with a new attitude of playing loose instead of being so hard on yourself, she is playing for the love of the game."

But is she really back better than ever?

"I will say yes," Martin said. "Her consistency has improved so much which is crazy to say after she missed an entire year. She always hit for power but she could be streaky at times, but this year, she is so consistent. She has no pressure on herself and is embracing that this is her senior year. Losing a season made her realize that it isn't the end of the world if she records and out or makes a mistake. She just wants to play a fun game and her perspective has changed which allows her to let go of the pressure."

The pressure mixed with the mental hurdle she had to overcome could have crippled her right out of the gate, but Gundrum has taken a new outlook into her senior softball season. That mental hurdle and all that pressure?

"That is gone," Gundrum said. "I live by everything happens for a reason so maybe I was meant to tear my ACL my junior year so I could learn how to handle adversity, come back and have a big senior year in basketball and carry that over to softball. It was all meant to be."

Meant to be almost like getting a hit on her very first swing in her very first scrimmage back.

It was like she never left.

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

X: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: 'It was all meant to be': Shelby's Gundrum back better than ever after ACL injury